Black, white and grey

Fusion of electronic and classical music, courtesy Gaurav Raina

With genres like rock, metal, pop and punk rock on a high, many have missed on that one category of music which was out of the box, the ‘Dark Music’. From Dr No to Casino Royale and Skyfall, most of us all have been fans of dark music in all the James Bond and sci-fi flicks.

Bringing back the subtle hues of dark music and putting aside the clichéd ‘Happy EDM’ movements, Gaurav Raina aka GRAIN of the Midival Punditz has released his debut album, titled ‘Grey To Silver’, recently. His performance at Over The Moon, Banjara Hills did restore what he believed in. “‘Grey To Silver’ is a collection of emotions and moods. Like any piece of art, it too has a spirit and soul of its own, that’s unique,” he says.

The tracks are a commixture of some dark music, fused with vivid touches of electronic music and classical musical instruments like sitar. “The album is a musical narration of my emotions and thoughts, combined with various influences of mine over the years,” he says. “I’ve been hugely influenced by rock ’n roll and electronic music. Hence, involuntarily, these influences have crept into my compositions. Another huge influence in this album was the collaborators I worked with. I made a conscious decision to adopt a ‘hold-no-bars’ approach towards what styles I collaborate and create with, as long as the main aesthetic was right,” he added.

Gaurav has a typical reaction, when asked why he composes dark music. “That’s an interesting way of looking at my music,” he says, “It could very well be the soundtrack to a thriller, or a sci-fi drama of some sort. I did not intentionally make dark music actually; I did however try to make some serious songs that reflected upon emotional moments and moods that I had been experiencing. I wanted to stay away from the norm of making ‘happy EDM’ which, I feel, is a mis-representation of electronica in this day and age.”

Gaurav and Tapan from Midival Punditz introduced electronica in the country while the genre was taking its nimble steps in the west. He says, “We’ve come a long way from being DJs in Delhi nightclubs to making our own music and releasing three studio albums. Being an early bird meant we actually had pretty open palette to do anything we wished to in India. So, we kind of decided to do in the style that came most naturally to us. We did not realise at that time that it would be called Asian electronica eventually.”

Commenting about the current music scenario in India, he says “India is in a very interesting space at the moment. There are new genres of music coming from overseas and also from the new bands that are coming up all over the country.

He feels that ultimately it’s a call that lies among the audience, as to what kind of music they want to listen to. “With producers making some very edgy and interesting music with collaborations and mixing up genres, India could very well be on the global music map, if the numbers increase with the people who make the music alongside the people consuming it,” he concludes.